BlackBerry revamps BlackBerry Bold as Classic smartphone (+video)

It will be called the BlackBerry Classic and it will bring back all of the things that BlackBerry users loved about their old device. Last month the struggling company released the BlackBerry Passport in an effort to draw more customers in, and now has released an update to a throwback – that just happens to be the best-selling BlackBerry device of all-time. The BlackBerry Bold was the go-to device for anyone in business when BlackBerry still had a controlling stake in the smartphone market. However, as the year’s progressed, larger screens won, and media became the center point of smartphones – BlackBerry faded.

BlackBerry has brought back all of the great qualities that everyone loved about the Bold, and installed them on the Classic. The Classic will retail for $449 with no contract, and is built incredibly well according to those who have used it. However, the device has also been called “sluggish” by some, and even have noted at the poor experience when it comes to third-party applications. That points to BlackBerry’s greater failure in recent-years.

While many people have criticized how the company has treated their products – with the rise of iOS and Android – BlackBerry’s operating system was ultimately left in the dust. This device offers a lot of great features, for users who are looking for a true BlackBerry experience – but the question remains – who is actually looking for that today?

The BlackBerry Classic is 5.15-inches in height, but not all of that is dedicated to screen – since the device does feature the classic QWERTY physical keyboard that many loved about the old devices made by the company. It features a Qualcomm MSM8960 processor clocked at 1.5GHz. However, even as the device scored poorly on various benchmark tests to test the speed and compatibility of the BlackBerry Classic – it remains apparent that this phone is for a very small market of users.

This is an attempt to gain back some of the business users – as many traditional smartphone apps have gone missing altogether on this device – like Instagram. At the end of the day, the big question is will a great battery, classic-appeal, and solid build be enough to propel BlackBerry into the future – or will this simply be the last Hail Mary thrown by the company before moving away from hardware, away from smartphones, and focusing solely on their enterprise business.